Monique Hepburn, News Editor
WESTERN BUREAU:
OPERATING WITHIN a global economy that is 90 per cent reliant on processed foods, Jamaica must move swiftly to engage in wide scale agri-processing to save the declining farming sector.
"Agriculture is doomed in its present state if we do not have that linkage to processing. It is creaming off the excess in the glut period so that you make those products available in scarce periods," commented Hugh Dixon, chairman of the Southern Trelawny Environmental Agency (STEA) during a Gleaner Editors' Forum in Montego Bay on Tuesday.
HIGH-END MARKETS
Mr. Dixon explained that processing is from 'the simple to the complex' and adds value to commodities.
"Processing enables us to satisfy the high-end markets, but so far, 80 per cent of our products sold is fresh, in a world economy in which 90 per cent of products sold is processed," he said.
He called on the Scientific Research Council (SRC) to be more proactive in facilitating agri-processing ventures, suggesting that a substantial portion of the Government's agriculture budget could be redirected in that area.
Mr. Dixon contended that more than 25 per cent of crops, such as mangoes, yams and tomatoes are wasted in the fields annually, in lieu of alternative usage.
MORE INTEREST NEEDED
"The Jamaican economy is not advanced in technology to take into account these critical inputs that must be there if you are going to compete and if you're going to supply your own local markets, let alone trying to export any of our commodities," he concluded.
Andrew Morales, agri-processor and managing director of West Best Foods in Darliston, Westmoreland, reiterated Mr. Dixon's statements and argued that farmers should take greater interest in agri-processing to satisfy local demand for condiments and concentrates.
"When I look and see where I have to be importing pineapple concentrate, guava concentrate, and mango concentrate by the tons ... farmers need to be educated," said Mr. Morales. "We need a change in focus."
